


The Seed (Fix-It Version)

by Assassin_J, Hack_Generation



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: AU of an AU, Blood Loss, Childbirth, Desmond Lives, Drama, Empathic Ability, F/M, I Don't Even Know, Jealousy, Kid Fic, Multi, Post-AC3, Trans Characters, Trans Desmond Miles, Trans Lucy Stillman, plot? idk, two authors
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2019-02-19 12:38:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13123893
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Assassin_J/pseuds/Assassin_J, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hack_Generation/pseuds/Hack_Generation
Summary: so uh, inThe Seed, Juno was using Desmond's body to create a new body for herself, but what happens if some other Isu comes along and throws a wrench in her plan, huh?(reading that one for some context on what's happening is recommended, but not entirely necessary)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Seed](https://archiveofourown.org/works/5741668) by [Assassin_J](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Assassin_J/pseuds/Assassin_J). 



"You should not be using him like this!" Minerva shouted.

"They are but machines, meant to serve us!" Juno flung back at her.

"We no longer exist! Our time has passed long ago!" Minerva was livid, practically spitting with anger. She looked like she would have strangled Juno right then and there if they weren't both holographic ghostly remnants of their former selves. "It is the humans' world now! Why can you not accept that?!"

Desmond was curled forward, sobbing, grunting with involuntary effort. "Aah! Fuck! Make it stop!"

Juno rose up from the ground. "My plan is in motion and will not be torn asunder." She grinned. "Unlike you."

"Oh shiiiit," Shaun said, eyes dropping down to stare at his friend writhing in agony. He remembered now some Abstergo file compiling data on the physiology of the Isu race. Brains much larger than any hominid, and consequently, a skull much larger. As for _Desmond's_ physiology... well, whatever his sex, he certainly didn't have what one would call "child-bearing hips".

It wasn't clear whether Desmond had heard Juno's ominous reply. He was yelling incoherently now, tears rolling down his face. Lucy at his side was trying her best, holding him tight to provide whatever comfort she could. William swallowed and joined them at Desmond's other side, his throat too choked to speak.

"Woah," Rebecca said, and then called out to Shaun urgently: "Go get the medical box! Things are happening fast here!"

Shaun looked to the two Isu who were still staring daggers at each other. Though they'd stopped shouting now, he had the distinct feeling that some silent psychic battle was going on between them.

"Hurry up, dammit!" Rebecca said, quickly brushing hair out of her eyes, leaving a streak of dark blood across her brow.

"Fuck!" Desmond squeezed hard on the hands of both Lucy and William. "It's... it's coming!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure is," Rebecca said, trying to sound at least a little upbeat. "Startin' to, uh, peek out down there."

"Can you h-help it along?" William asked her.

"I'll do my best, but that's mostly Des' job at this stage." She patted Desmond's great bulging stomach. "Looks like you got a big ol' baby, big superbaby, so you gotta do big super pushes, alright?"

"Aaaargg, I am, I fucking am!"

"Try and step it up a notch," Shaun said, rushing back with the box of varied medical stuff and placing it down near Rebecca. "Isu skull through a human birth canal, that's an extremely tight squeeze!"

A frown crossed Rebecca's face. "Yeah, we shoulda expected he'd have some trouble." She quickly donned a pair of latex gloves. None of their little team were particularly trained for this, but she'd done some reading to try and prepare for it at least. She took a gauze from the box and wiped down the wet messy space between Desmond's legs. "At least he's coming headfirst, I see some hair-"

"Don't wanna hear the details!!" Desmond shouted, and then a moment later was wracked by another pushing urge, and he groaned, tears spilling from his eyes.

Not wanting to stare at Desmond's situation, Shaun glanced around for Minerva and Juno, but didn't find them. Odd... while the humans were all preoccupied with this impending birth, not only had the Isu fucked off, but also the light in the vast chamber had changed somehow, had become much darker and blacker, except for their spot right near the orb, which had a golden orange glow that was adequate enough. This didn't feel like a good sign. Everything had been gentle blue before. Shaun hoped that the planet's surface was doing all right.

Desmond yelled out again, angrily, raw.

Rebecca held his thighs steady as they shook. "It's coming," she said softly.

Desmond knew. He felt it coming, an unrelenting hard mass drilling its way out and spreading him wider than anything ever had before. The steel-tight contractions- which had started so light, as mere twinges- were constant beats of agony now. They took over his whole torso and made him bear down without letting his muscles stop for the slightest bit of rest- it was all he could do to catch breath every now and again.

"I'm... I'm not- I can't do this," he said weakly. His vision was hazy as he looked across the orb of his stomach at Rebecca.

"No, he's coming, Des," Rebecca insisted, "you're making some progress. Gimme another long push."

"I really can't-"

"Fight through the pain," William said, adjusting his hold on Desmond's hand. "You are stronger than pain."

"And you're not alone. We're a family, and a team," Lucy said, with teary eyes. "I know this sucks but we'll get through it! I love you so much!"

Shaun got into the support game too. "Come on, mate, another push." He squatted by Desmond's middle and gave it a little pat. "Don't let a bloody fetus get the best of you. Show him who's boss, push the fucker out!"

Desmond closed his eyes. He would have protested more, but he couldn't get enough air in his lungs to speak. Another intense spasm ripped into him and made his stomach into a hard ball of pain again.

"C'mon, push!"

He pushed, and felt something snap-break in his insides.

"Yah-hah, you're doing it!" Rebecca announced. "Don't hold back! I'm right here to catch- oh!" Great gushes of hot blood pulsed out over her gloved hands, such that she could hardly keep a hold on the actual child starting to emerge. 

Desmond barely felt her fumbling fingers; by this point things down there were comfortably numb. Some whispered words were echoing in his mind, indecipherable but very calming.

He just.... wanted.... to sleep.

"Lotta blood, lotta blood," Rebecca said under her breath. "Damn." In amongst all that blood was a slippery solid thing, which seemed too oddly proportioned: the head so large, the arms so long. She couldn't tell what color the hair was under all that red.

"Just a bit more, just a bit more," murmured Shaun.

Rebecca tugged the odd little baby's fat hips free, and two spindly legs slid out afterward. "I got him, he's out, Des!" The newborn squalled, and thrashed in her arms.

Desmond was also out, but in a different sense of the word. Lucy shook his shoulder trying to wake him, but to no avail. "Fuck," she said. They all looked blankly at each other while the baby continued to cry.

And then--


	2. Chapter 2

He woke up in a haze of pain, pain that throbbed all through his hips and up into his gut, like he'd been bodily whacked with a wrecking ball. Slowly, slowly, he lifted a hand to try and feel the extent of the injury.

"D- Desmond! Wait, stop, don't try to move!"

He dropped the hand and opened groggy eyes to try and see who was talking to him. It was a stranger, with half-dyed short hair and a doctor's coat, who rushed over to Desmond's bedside.

The stranger turned their head and called out, "Bill, Bill! He's awake!" Then they turned back and put a hand on the middle of Desmond's chest. "I am not kidding mate, stay laid down. You've got about fifty different stitches that need to heal, and I really don't want you tearing any of them open."

"Wha' happened?" Desmond asked faintly. "The cave? The- oh no. Juno." His stomach was deflated now, he realized. Nausea washed over him as he tried to find words. "Juno- the baby- what happened with the baby?"

The doctor, whose name badge read "Avery", shushed Desmond and took hold of his wrist to check his heartrate.

"Doc, c'mon-"

Avery shushed him again, more intensely. Twenty seconds went by and then they seemed satisfied and let go Desmond's wrist. "All right, the baby." Their expression was uncertain, similar to how Desmond was feeling. "He's healthy, as far as we can tell." Avery pointed a finger to the wall behind Desmond's head. "He's just in the other room, actually, would you maybe like to see him?"

Desmond grimaced and said, "Maybe." He looked down the length of his body again, small flashes of memory from the traumatic birth coming up in his mind.

William came into the room then. "Desmond!" he called, with joy in his voice. "Finally. You're awake. You made it."

"Finally? Dad, I- how long was I out?"

"It's been... nearly forty-eight hours," William said, brushing back messy, stressed hair. "We're fortunate that Anpu showed up soon aft-"

Desmond cut in to stop him. "Anpu? Who's Anpu?"

William gathered his hands behind his back and breathed in. "He is... an Isu."

A full-body spasm of shock went through Desmond.

"But please listen, he's the reason you're alive!" Avery said quickly, leaning on the rail of Desmond's bed. "He's the one that brought you here from the Temple where you were bleeding out!"

William jolted back a step, surprised by something on the other side of Desmond's bed. "And he's here now."

Desmond turned his head and saw a tall stranger with dark hair and bronzed skin looking down at him.

"I am also the one who stopped Juno from reincarnating herself in your child," the stranger said. "I only wish I could have stopped her sooner. But, as I've explained to your allies, I needed the full force of the solar winds to energize the redirect."

Desmond slowly looked over to his father. "Dad? Is this guy for real?"

The stranger instantly materialized next to William, frowning down at Desmond. "I most certainly am, else you would not even be drawing breath to ask such a question. As the surgeon just has told you."

The guy didn't look like any Isu that Desmond had ever seen before. Instead of the fanciful silky robes that Minerva and Juno and Jupiter always appeared in, this guy was wearing an altogether modern outfit: rough black leather jacket, a simple black button-up shirt, and weatherbeaten black jeans with sand in the creases. The only hints that maybe he might not be human were his height, and also the dark, charred-looking skin of his hands.

Anpu definitely noticed that he was being scrutinized. "My true form is too stunning and grand," he said bluntly. "Hence I use this guise when I walk the earth."

"Oh my god, the _earth_! We survived!" Desmond grinned and laughed a little, despite all his abdominal soreness. "No solar deathstorm, and no-" He was about to say more, but there came a harsh crying suddenly from the next room. And at that exact same time, his mind was filled with a wild confusion, a hot storm of distress. "Oh god, shit! What the fuck?"

"The infant Minerva is calling for you," Anpu stated.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cn: brief baby nursing/chestfeeding

"Infant _what_?"

"Minerva," Avery repeated in a small voice that Desmond barely heard through the crying and the emotions in his head. "That's what Anpu says the baby's name is."

"Minerva, the polar opposite of Juno," Anpu said.

Desmond rubbed his aching head, which was somehow in even more pain than his surgeried abdomen. "I- I gave birth to _Minerva_?"

Anpu wrinkled his nose, lips pressed into a tensed frown, his expression borderlines a grimace. Lip rising incrementally with each shrill scream from the baby.

His visage ultimately passed into a snarl and he stormed off into the opposite room. The doctor in that room yelped, as the Isu had snapped at her before. He took Desmond’s offspring into his own arms. Returning with the squalling child, Anpu brought him directly to Desmond, handing the baby over and then sitting beside him to observe the interaction.

"Your fledgling is hungry. Requirement of sustenance can only be fulfilled by you." A pointed and purposeful glance at Desmond’s chest.

"Oh god, no," Desmond said, realizing what Anpu meant. It already fucked him up enough that he'd carried and birthed this thing; now he was being told to _nurse_ it too?

"No, you can't make him do that." William moved in and tried to push Anpu away from the bed. "We've been feeding him formula until now, and we can keep on feeding him formula."

Anpu frowned at the lead Assassin. "He won't fully develop on that inferior nutriment. He requires more than a mere human would."

With mixed emotions, Desmond looked down at the baby. It- _he_ \- looked bizarre- _beautiful_? Desmond couldn't fucking think straight. It was like there was someone else in his head, someone hungry and scared and needy. The baby's screams had lessened into less piercing whines now. _Keep. Protect. Develop._ What the hell?

"Fuck, it's doing something to me," Desmond said, closing his eyes tightly.

"That is only your bond," Anpu said dismissively. 

"Bond? What? _Aah,_ " Desmond said when a new, sharper pain pricked at him, right on his nipple. He looked at the baby again. He'd been wriggling around in his arms and now he was latched on and beginning to suck. "Fuuuck," Desmond said again, but despite this he hugged the baby to him more closely and patted his back. A relief was washing over his brain now, dissipating the panic and hunger that was clouding him before.

"Our kind have more ways of perceiving than humans do," Anpu said, angry at having to remind them of this basic fact. "Tis a cruel travesty that humans do not link with the minds of their offspring, to know their needs before they can speak."

Desmond breathed deeply and slowly to calm himself. There was a faint flow of _something_ coming from his chest, and he wasn't very happy about that, but at least the pricking pain had mostly gone away.

"Good," Anpu said, his mood softening. "Your fledgling will grow strong if you continue these feedings."

Desmond rolled his head to look at Avery and William. "I guess, it's, uh... it's not too bad. Not too uncomfortable."

Anpu's tar-black fingers brushed over the baby’s cheek, long pianist digits that continued upwards to delicately smooth over wisp of hair.

"Can you, hnn," Desmond winced when the baby suckled a bit harder than before. "Fff- can you explain how the fuck I was pregnant with Minerva?" he asked, rushing the words out quickly.

Anpu answered. "Not the Minerva you know. I chose the name in her honor."

"Oh. Okay?" Desmond exhaled, and patted the baby's back unconsciously again.

"I tricked Juno," Anpu went on, "enticed her with false truths and empty promises so that I could instill my own DNA within your child. A barrier of sorts so that even if she did succeed there would be no compatibility and she would die, leaving the child alive."

"What happened to Juno, then?"

"She lurks somewhere," Anpu said. "Biding her time to make another plan. But she shall not come near you while I stay, for she fears me."

Desmond snorted a laugh. "Nice. We got us a Precursor bodyguard. Can you keep Templars away too?"

Anpu grinned, looking both cheerful and sinister at the same time. "If they come for you they will be destroyed."

For an Isu, Desmond thought, this guy might not be too bad to hang around with.


End file.
